It's Vegas Baby!!

We just returned home from our trip to Las Vegas for the Western Veterinary Conference. It has fast become our favorite conference to attend...largely impart because it's held in Vegas. The conference is always at Mandalay Bay....

This conference allows a good mix of learning and fun!

We are not usually big gamblers but we seemed to step it up a notch this year. It seemed I was always going to Nathan with my hand out asking...'Can I have another $5 to feed into the slot machines?' 

This is me asking if I should cash out or keep losing all of my money....

Nathan getting in on the action....

I finally 'won' some money over at NYNY...so with Nathan's winnings at black jack this is about all we came out ahead with....but remember the purpose of this trip is to 'learn'....:)

Last year my friend Tracy and her husband Mike came out to learn with us...we missed you guys this year Tracy!!

We always like visiting other hotels and casinos and being the little foodie that I am...we headed down to the Bellagio to indulge in their champagne brunch buffet. It was quite embarrassing how much food we inhaled but you gotta get your money's worth! Here are some cool pics of the Bellagio celebrating the Chinese New Year...

The ceiling at the front desk....

The cool mirrored horse in the front lobby...

Paris at night....

Excalibur...

 

NYNY....

We each picked a show this year that we wanted to see...Nathan chose The Lion King...

Nathan doing his best lion impression...

Being the trashy TV fan that I am...I wanted to see Holly Madison in Peepshow. We had awesome seats...so close that I could have reached out and tripped Holly if I had wanted to be thrown out...but I remained on my best behavior. The show was really good and the dancers/strippers were amazing! Although, they did make me want to purge my Bellagio Buffet and grab the closest P90X dvd I could find...but I gotta give them props...the dancing and singing was great! And yes, there was plenty of nippleage....but it's Vegas, baby!!

Even though some 20,000 vets converge on this conference every year...we still run into plenty of people we know. I saw quite a few people I worked with from Arizona and plenty from Texas. We grabbed dinner with Dr. Bihl and her husband Tim at Stripsteak our last night in town. 

And we ran into Rodney....Rodney is our BI rep from Texas...he, or BI rather, treated us to dinner at Aureole...afterwards we hit up Eyecandy bar and partied the night away! Rodney and Nathan getting the party started....

We enjoyed making some memories with our fabulous technician Ashley...

A little Jersey Shore fist pumping action....

Alas...all good things must come to an end....and we must return to reality. 

A cool pic of the Rockies on our way home....

Winter Birthdays

Winter has hopefully come and gone. We all survived 'The Blizzard of 2011'...dun, dun, duuuuunnnn....Washington got a record 14 inches of snow. Nathan and I were snowed in at his parents home in Monticello. We were stupid and drove home in the middle of the storm. I've never quite experienced anything quite like it. We went through periods of complete white out conditions...but the trusty rusty Honda Pilot got us home safely. 

Here's a cool pic of mom and dad's front door and the frost that formed...kind of pretty!

And Mom's car with the snow piled up at the square after the roads were plowed. 

Mom and dad's pond has seen lots of action with the ice fisherman...we had four guys here this past weekend. I hear the ice was 15 inches thick. Why this is considered fun, I have yet to figure out. 

We celebrated Nathan's (and Nick's) birthday last week, first with his side of the family and then with my side last weekend. 

Blowing out candles with Nick and Ryker...Ryker couldn't quite understand why he couldn't have a birthday that night too. I told him, someday he's gonna wish his birthday didn't come anymore....he didn't believe me. 

All the grandparents were present and accounted for...and no birthday is complete without Bob helping to celebrate. 

The birthday guy with his red velvet cake at the Mangold celebration....I would love to tell you that I slaved all morning baking this cake...but then I would be lying....and something bad might happen to me...like God striking me down with a lightning bolt. Mom slaved all morning baking the cake and yelling at me to keep my fingers out of the batter. 

Opening some gifts....

More artwork to hang up at the clinic...

The party was so crazy we soon lost a few to naps on the windowsill...Nathan and Dad shared the space and the well missed sunshine.

The snow is almost completely melted at this point...hopefully spring is right around the corner!

Ode to Nathan

Nathan is much more sweet tempered than I,

Even the time a horse kicked him in the eye.

He loves being a small animal vet,

Do you think I’m glad I married him? You bet!

He has an identical twin brother,

Thanks be to his poor, poor mother.

His best friend Jason lives many states away,

They still talk on the phone multiple times a day.

Nathan has a hard time telling me ‘no’,

Even when it’s a far corner of the world that I want to go.

This is the first poem I’ve ever written in his honor,

I’m sure my poetry career is a goner.

Nathan is an Iowa farm boy,

He learned early on being a hard worker is a joy.

He is a rabid ISU fan,

And usually drives the speed of a little old man.

I still don’t know what birthday gift to buy, how will we ever get along?

I guess the dogs and I will have to howl him a song.

I don’t have much else to say,

except Nathan have a happy, happy birthday!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Three's a Crowd or Three's Company?

My life of living between my parent's basement and my in-law's basement goes on as Nathan continues to drag his feet about getting an apartment as we are hoping/praying our house will sell soon.

When I go down to my parent's house, I am banished to the unfinished section of the basement. There is a bedroom and bathroom down there where I can at least spread out a little...and not infringe on mom and dad's space. Most of my closet contents continue to live in boxes....

Unfortunately, my poor mother not only has to store most of my stuff but also most of Gma Jean's stuff. I found this dress of hers in the closet last summer....I'm sure more treasures await...

Here it is on the original owner back in the day when it was actually in style....going out for the night on the town at the country club...

...maybe if I had added a black belt? 

One good thing about going home is that I get to see my pups. They are usually glad to see me and are more than excited to follow me to bed....the problem is I'm sleeping in a twin bed. After finishing my nightly routine this is what I usually find waiting for me....

Now for those of you who know anything about sleeping with animals...despite their small size...somehow even the littlest of pets seem to take up huge amounts of bed space. The three of us in a twin bed leaves little room to spare. This trio and the little bed does not always equal a good nights sleep...for one of us that is. But I don't have the heart to make them sleep anywhere else....I mean, they miss me right?

 So, I guess three's company for now!